Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Kraft Heinz Call Options (NASDAQ:KHC)

Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 82,130 call options on the company. This is an increase of 189% compared to the typical daily volume of 28,427 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore set a $24.00 price target on Kraft Heinz in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Kraft Heinz from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $23.62.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of KHC stock traded down $0.78 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.55. The company had a trading volume of 12,262,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,037,105. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $25.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.91. Kraft Heinz has a 52-week low of $21.03 and a 52-week high of $28.09. The company has a market capitalization of $29.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.58 and a beta of 0.08.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.18 billion. Kraft Heinz had a negative net margin of 13.64% and a positive return on equity of 7.10%. Kraft Heinz’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. Kraft Heinz has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.030-2.090 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Kraft Heinz will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -55.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Diana Frost sold 18,502 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $426,471.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 102,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,366,474.35. The trade was a 15.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KHC. Jessup Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the first quarter worth $27,000. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kraft Heinz by 70.2% during the fourth quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kraft Heinz Company Profile

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ: KHC) is a global food and beverage company formed in 2015 through the merger of Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz Company. The combination created one of the largest packaged-food companies in the world, built around well-known consumer brands. The merger was supported by major investors and established a multi-national platform for branded food products.

Kraft Heinz develops, manufactures, markets and distributes a broad portfolio of branded packaged foods and condiments.